Cote d'Azur -- French Riviera

Picasso's Cote d'Azur hanging in the
recreation room of my house (**).

Four years later, in 2006, I went to Cote d'Azur again. I went there with my wife and spent four nights there. In February of 2017, I went there again to take more photos.

Many artists spent their times in this area, and there are good reasons. Let us look at some photos from this part of the world.

Nice serves as the capital city of the Cote D'Azur (French Riviera), with a beautiful beach, side-walk cafes, many art museums, as well as many interesting people. Let us look at some photos from this Mediterranean city.
1. Nice Beach seen from Mount Boron, east of the beach. There, I met two Swedish students from Vaxjo in 2002. They became very happy when I told them I went to their university twice to attend conferences. Since no one else was around, we had to take turns of push my camera button. Click here for those three photos.
2. Closer to the Beach.
3. Walkway along the Beach.
4. Medical doctors from Norway. I met them at a table on the beach. They came here to attend a conference.
5. Cruise Ship seen from the Beach.
6. During the sunset hours.
7. I like to swim! Unfortunately, I was not prepared to swim on this Nice beach during my brief get-away visit there, but the ocean beach is always in my heart. I was born and raised in a Korean seashore village called "Sorae" now located in a territory controlled by North Korean authorities. I used to swim like the young people seen in the background. My car licence plate in the United States proudly says SORAE . Unlike the Nice beach, the Sorae beach is covered with milk-colored white sand. Before WWII, many American missionaries working in China, Korea, and Japan used to come to the Sorae beach for vacation. Click here for a photo of those Americans on the beach.
8. Another Photo of myself. I seem to look better in this enhanced environment. One More Photo of myself.
9. I went there again in 2006. Sad, I became older.
Nice Sidewalk Cafes getting ready for their evening business.
1. During the Evening Hours, the cafes are very busy.
2. In February, the Beach is not busy, but it is still is a good place to visit and to meet interesting people.
3. Mardi Gras Festival in French style.
Chagall's image of the Garden of Eden. God created two women for him. So did He for me even in the Chagall Museum. Click here for my own Garden of Eden.
Mark Chagall Museum is within a walking distance from the Nice-Ville Station. I went there in 2002 with a film camera, and with a digital camera in 2017. It is a pleasant walk thanks to the orange trees along the street.
1. When I was there in 2002. I wanted to have a photo of myself at the entrance of the museum. I asked a gentleman from the Netherlands to push the shutter button for me. He was kind enough to tell his wife to stand with me.
2. This museum has a good collection of Chagall's paintings based on the Bible stories.
  - Abraham ready to sacrifice his son. This photo was taken in 2017. I was there at the same place in 2002.
  - Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God.
  - Garden of Eden. According to this picture, God created two women, instead of one, for him. It was a pleasant surprise for me because I also think God created two women for me, and I even have a scientific evidence to prove this claim. Click here for my explanation.
  - This work is also about a Bible story, but I am not able to tall which story. This photo was taken in 2002. It was still there in 2017.
3. While in Nice, Chagall became interested in putting his artworks into ceramics. The museum displays some of his works along this direction.
4. Click here for more about Chagall and his art works.
If the museum does not allow photos inside, I take photos of the art works created by God.
The Matisse Museum a red brick building on the top of the hill where ancient Romans built their city. When I went there in 2002, the museum did not allow me take photos inside the building. In order to overcome this difficulty, I decided to have a photo with an artistic object constructed by God.
Here is a photo of myself with a French lady from Strasbourg near Germany. I asked her whether Mount Donan is close to her place. She said "not far." She knew how Victor Hugo was born.

When I went to this museum again, things were different. I was allowed to take photos. Let us look at some of the photos. Like all artists around the world and throughout the history, Matisse wanted to express how the woman men appears to him.
1. This painting is prominently displayed in the museum.
2. This is the two-dimensional image of a woman.
3. He also had a three-dimensional image.
4. In addition to the woman, Nice Beach looked beautiful to him. Here is his image of the beach.
5. With this art work, Matisse was trying to tell us something. I am not able to figure out what he says. Can you?
6. Click here for some of Mstisse's well-known works stored in this museum. There are many other museums throughout the world holding his paintings.
Picasso Museum. This museum is located in the city of Antibes, about one-hour bus ride from Nice. Here also, I could take photos only outside the building (2002).
1. with Korean students outside the building overlooking the sea. Because of my national origin, I become very happy whenever I meet Korean students, especially at holy places like the Picasso Museum.
2. I like Picasso, because he forces me to think. I own many Picasso items including two neckties carrying Picasso's paintings.
3. Chateau Grimaldi seen from across the Antibes Bay.
4. Three Australian Ladies admiring the Chateau Grimaldi at the Antibes Bay (2006).
5. Closer View of the Chateau.
6. Picasso Tie. In this photo with Anton Zeilinger, I am wearing a Picasso nectie. This photo was taken during the banquet honoring John A. Wheeler (Princeton, March 2002).
7. In 1980, there was a Picasso exhibition in New York City. I went there and received a basic education on this great artist.
8. In 1992, while I was in Madrid (Spain), I visited the Picasso Square.
9. Picasso Sculpture on the Campus of Princeton University. This art piece called the "Head of a Woman" was constructed by a Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar in 1971 under the supervision of Pablo Picasso.

There are many other museums in the city of Nice. One notable place is the Russian Orthodox Church built by the Romanov family. As you know orthodox churches are art museums filled with paintings and sculptures. This church has a very interesting history.

Russian rulers were always interested in establishing sea routes. The most effective way was and still is to start from the seaports in Crimea. However, as a result of the Crimean War (1853-56), their sea route through Black Sea was blocked by Ottoman Turkey and European powers.

Russian Orthodox Church in Nice.
Statue of Alexander II and the chapel dedicated to him at the church ground. Why did I want to have a photo with him? Click here for the answer.

Russia's Alexander II then had an idea of establishing a Russian community in the Mediterranean city of Nice, using rail routes from Moscow to Berlin, Berlin to Paris, and then to Paris to Nice. He himself took a train ride from St. Petersburg to Nice. He liked the place and encouraged Russians to move to Nice.
His grandson, Nicholas II, built a Russian church where his grandfather stayed while in Nice.
There still is a Russian community in Nice with a big Russian church. You can meet many Russians there, including a Russian Orthodox cathedral.
In 2003, I met there these two Russian ladies. They were very happy to talk with me because I know about their country.
Not many of you know that Alexander II also had an ambition toward the Pacific Ocean.
In 1867, he sold Alaska to the United States for 7 million US-Dollars. Since Lincoln was assassinated in 1967, most of the negotiation took place during Lincoln's presidency.
He then turned his attention toward the Pacific Ocean. He was interested in the Korean Peninsula. He started building a Russian city called Harbin in northern China. By this time, China's Qing Dynasty was powerless to stop the Russian venture to Far East.
To most of you, it is the first time to hear this story, but I am not the first one to see this. Queen Victoria realized that Russia's eventual aim was the Korean peninsula which can be used as Russia's base toward the Pacific Ocean. In order to block the Russian attempt, Queen Victoria sent two Presbyterian missionaries from Scotland to a small village of Wuchang just south of Harbin. These two clergy men started translation of the Bible into Korean, leading to the first Presbyterian church in Korea. You will be interested to know that I was infant-baptized at this church. Click here to see how this happened.

Russian Lady from Omsk. I met her on the Cote d'Azur beach. It was the first time to meet, but this Russian lady behaved as if he she were with her brother. This photo was taken by her embarrassed daughter. It was not the first time for me to have this kind of experience with Russian ladies. This prompted me to do a research along this line, and I constructed a theory of why. Click here for the result of my research.
Two Swedish students from Vaxjo. I met them in 2002 on a high ground in the Nice beach, and they became very happy when I told them I was on their Vaxjo campus one month earlier. Since there was no one else to take photos of all three together, we had to take three photos each containing two. Here is the composite of all three photos.
Finland. I was talking with this Finnish lady while waiting for a bus from Antibes to Nice (France) on July 17, 2002. We had many things to talk about including cellular phones made in her country.
Italians from Bari. I met these interesting people at the Nice Beach. I like southern Italians.
1. Latvian Professionals I met in Cannes. They came here from Riga for vacation (June 2006).
2. Norwegian Medical Doctors in Nice (France 2006). They came to Nice to attend an international cardiology conference.
Cancun (2004), on July 28, I was sitting next to a French lady who was born in Nice on an American Airlines flight from Miami to Cancun. She was very happy to hear that I am maintaining this Cote d'Azur webpage. We had a photo session after the flight. She manages
her beautiful family in Versailles near Paris. They came to Mexico for three weeks of summer vacation.
1. Another Beautiful Family from Nice. I met them in Princeton, New Jersey (August 2008). The boy was thinking of coming to Princeton for his college education.
2. Rome (2000). I was waiting with these French chemists from Nice for the Pope to appear on his window at St Peter's Square in Rome.
3. Geneva (2003). I met these students from Nice. They are going to become commercial artists.
With my wife at the Nice Beach (June 2006).
St. Paul (near Nice) known as the city of artists. I was with my wife.
Dinner at a sidewalk cafe in Nice.
Not over yet. Would you like to see some art scenes elsewhere in the world?

Why is he with Einstein?

I purchased this framed reprint of Picasso's Cote d'Azur from an art store in New York City for $80 about 30 years ago. This oblique image of 0.1 mpx has no commercial value. Reproduction prohibited.
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